For all its glitter and slam-bang cricket, the domestic Twenty20 league has also witnessed a fair share of unruly behaviour on the pitch. The inaugural edition of 2008 had set the tone with Harbhajan Singh slapping S Sreesanth for some insensitive comments he made during a match.

On Thursday, things were reined in much before they got out of hand between two Delhi stalwarts at the Chinnaswamy stadium. An angry Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper, Virat Kohli, did not leave the ground after being caught and Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir marched up to him.

Luckily, another Delhi player, KKR’s Rajat Bhatia, intervened to prevent the two from having a go at each other and help diffuse the situation. Both players, who have lost their cool in the past, were admonished by the referee and handed a warning.

It was unclear what words were exchanged and Gambhir later played down the incident. But it soured the festive atmosphere created by Chris Gayle’s match-winning knock for RCB.

The incident comes only a few days after Caribbean team mates Keiron Pollard (Mumbai Indians) and Dwayne Bravo (Chennai Super Kings) got into an argument during a match in Chennai.